There is a genuine desire within the mobile computing industry to enable mobile devices, for example mobile telephones and tablet computing devices, to be used as payment devices in order to participate in a financial transaction. This would enable the mobile device to provide a genuine substitute for the traditional debit and/or credit card. This desire has gained considerable traction in recent years with the rollout of near-field communication (NFC) enabled mobile computing devices.
NFC technology enables NFC-enabled mobile computing devices, for example NFC enabled smartphones, to establish radio communication with other NFC-enabled devices by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity (usually separated by no more than a few centimeters). One of the commercially promising applications of this technology is in the field of contactless payment transactions. In such applications, a mobile computing device such as a smartphone provided with an NFC and payment functionality is arranged to communicate with a contactless point of sale (POS) terminal to process a user-presented financial transaction.
The EMV® protocol, published by EMVCo LLC provides a communication standard based on ISO/IEC 7816 for contact cards, such as traditional PIN and Chip cards; and standards based on ISO/IEC 14443 for contactless transactions as supported by NFC devices. MasterCard's PayPass® is one example of a currently used contactless transaction system based on the EMV® protocol enabling NFC-enabled mobile devices to participate in financial transactions. Visa's payWave® and American Express' ExpressPay® are two other examples of current contactless transaction systems implementing the EMV® protocol.
For contactless payment user PIN entry is typically required to authorise a transaction where the value of the transaction exceeds a predetermined threshold value. PIN entry may be effected directly on the mobile device, or in the PIN entry pad operatively connected to the POS terminal. The EMV protocol supports two different types of PIN verification: On-line verification and Off-line verification. In On-line verification the user-entered PIN is remotely verified by the payment credential issuer to ensure that the correct PIN has been entered. This comprises establishing a remote connection between the PIN-entry operatively connected to the POS terminal and the remote issuer. The remoter issuer verifies that the entered PIN is correct, following which a confirmation message is relayed back to the POS terminal confirming approval of the requested transaction.
In Off-line PIN verification the user-entered PIN is locally verified by the mobile device. This requires maintaining a locally stored PIN on the mobile payment device, which is commonly referred to as the mobile PIN (mPIN) or code and is different to the PIN associated with the user's traditional debit/credit card. For example, the mPIN may be stored locally in a secure hardware element comprised in the mobile device. Upon mPIN entry, the entered mPIN value is verified locally with the mPIN value stored on the secure hardware element. Subject to successful local verification, the subsequent transaction is authenticated, and the transaction details relayed from the mobile payment device to the POS terminal and on to the issuer for either real-time processing or batch processing.
Due to the complexities of maintaining one PIN value in two different locations, mobile banking implementations either use Off-line PIN verification or On-line PIN verification. There is currently no adequate solution in the mobile banking field, and specifically in contactless payment systems, to this problem of maintaining and synchronising one PIN value in two different remote locations.
Traditional debit and/or credit card transaction systems provide Pin Change functionality at designated automated teller machines (ATMs), such as at the issuing bank's ATMs. To change PIN value, a user is required to insert their debit and/or credit card in the ATM's designated card slot, and select the Pin Change function. Once the new PIN value has been selected by the user, it is first forwarded to the card issuer, where the appropriate user records are updated with the new PIN value, and subsequently written by the ATM to the integrated circuit card (ICC) where present, and/or to the magnetic stripe comprised on the inserted debit/credit card. This ensures that the PIN value known by the issuer and the PIN value stored locally on the debit/credit card are synchronised, such that both On-line and Off-line PIN verification transactions are supported. Confidentiality is maintained during the PIN synchronisation process by the secure communication channel present between the ICC and the issuer.
This known solution is inadequate for use in contactless transaction systems, including mobile banking where mobile devices are used to participate in transactions, since current ATMs are unable to write data to mobile computing devices in a secure and confidential manner. Even if such a solution were technically possible it is undesirable since such a geographically-limited solution undermines one of the principle advantages of mobile technology—namely, the ability to access and update one's data from any geographical location. Furthermore, the expense required to modify current ATMs to provide them with functionality to write to mobile computing devices is prohibitive.
A need therefore exists to provide a secure method for synchronising a PIN between a mobile computing device and an issuer, which method must be compatible with existing On-line and Off-line PIN verification functionality. It is an object of the present invention to provide a solution to this problem.